Japan’s Space Cherry popped early at the age of 5!

Precocious
and
popped!

A Japanese mutant from outer space reaches sexual maturity at only the age of five and has grown to four meters (13ft) tall—Talk about an early bloomer!

Botanists baffled by rapid growth of ‘space cherry’The Asahi Shimbun | 2014apr06
—A tree grown from a cherry pit that traveled in space five years ago with astronaut Koichi Wakata, now commander of the International Space Station, has bloomed far ahead of what is normal–to the astonishment of botanists.
Cherry trees typically take about a decade from the time they sprout from seeds to bloom…
…In four years, the young plant has grown to a height of about 4 meters…
…it takes 10 years or more for cherry trees to grow flowers, but the young trees produced from cherry pits taken into space have flowered unusually early…more…